May, 2023 archive
Still Rising Again after All These Years . . . 0
. . . and still spreading America’s first Big Lie.
Aside:
The next time someone tells you that the Civil War was about “state’s rights,” ask, “The state’s right to do just what, exactly?”
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
A pile-up of politeness populates our parkways . . .
. . . as we politely progress the pathway to a pathetic polity.
While on the topic, the writer of a letter to the editor of the Las Vegas Sun has a question.
Suffer the Children 0
Let them be sacrificess to Republican posturing.
The Bullies’ Pulpit 0
F. T. Rea explores the fear factor.
Still Rising Again after All Those Years 0
They just can’t seem to stop themselves from idolizing icons of iniquity.
Animated by Anomie 0
Vinay Orekondy offers an interesting take on the rise of authoritarianism, not just in the U. S., but across the globe. He argues that, in a time of globalization and weakening community,
To put it another way, it’s antisocial behavior animated by anomie, a concept which I first encountered in the writings of Emile Durkheim.
I think Orekondy’s point is worth considering.
Authoritarianism does seem to foster a perverted sense of community for those on the inside, one that appeals to persons’ darkest impulses and one fed by demonizing “the other” (whoever the most convenient “other” may be). His theory may shed some light on how persons can do evil (like, for example, driving a car into a group of peaceful protestors) while telling themselves that they are somehow on the side of truth, justice, and virtue.
Yes, they may have found themselves a community, but it is a community of toxin that poisons the larger polity from within.
(Speaking of Durkheim, if you have not read The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, do so.)
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Settle family disputes with politeness.
This New Gilded Age 0
Kathryn A. Edwards suggests that the fee hand of the market does not, indeed, fix all faults.
See her list of lingering liabilities.
Durham’s Bull 0
Despite the hype about John Durham’s report, Farron, who has actually read it, explains why there’s no there there.
The Past as Prologue 0
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier reminds that, as Mark Twain said, “History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
By the way, if you haven’t read the book that Collier refers to in his article, this might be a very good time to do so. It is excellent.
